Support the 2020 Silver Lake Conference Center Annual Appeal

As the nights grow colder and I dream of warm days at the Lake, I remember lots of different things about being at camp. I hear children screaming with pure joy on Mudge Mountain. I smell marshmallows roasting over a campfire and taste Campfire Communion. I see Black Lives Matter signs and rainbow emblems, an outward sign of our commitment to a more just world, especially for our young people who are indeed the future.

What I don’t remember about camp is this: looking at the Silver Lake budget on a spreadsheet. Thinking about the positions that Silver Lake is currently hiring for. Wondering how much each meal costs per camper per week. Calculating how much it costs to maintain the high and low ropes courses. Wondering whether the budget is currently in a surplus or deficit.

Here’s the thing: whether we are quietly reading during a retreat, playing outside at Christmas at the Lake (sign up today!) or meeting at the amphitheater for sunset evening worship, we don’t need to quantify these formative experiences in terms of dollars and cents. On the other hand, our SLCC staff does. Even with the tremendous financial loss of in-person camp at the Lake this summer, our SLCC staff did a tremendously outstanding job of providing innovative and creative programming that transcended time and space to bring the best of SLCC directly to the homes of families. We are so fortunate to have this amazing outdoor ministry center with its vast acreage of God’s creation and six-person year round staff who support this work and programming with their time and talent.

And now, it’s our work to support Silver Lake Conference Center with our treasure. The SLCC Annual Appeal supports the day-to-day operating expenses that summer camp and retreats simply do not cover. And this year, SLCC needs your financial support more than ever.